Finally and Ever After
by LokiGirl
Summary: Sequel to Ryo Hoshi's 'After' and 'Later'.
1. Finally

Finally  
By LokiGirl

Author's Note: This story is a sequel to 'After' and 'Later' by Ryo Hoshi. It'll make more sense if you read them.

Disclaimer: And no I don't own. Can barely pay tuition, so I couldn't possibly buy something so cool. Rats.

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Mayura sighed as the contraction faded away. The pain was only a minute apart now and she knew at least one of the twins was about to be born. She felt her left hand being gently squeezed. With a weak smile she turned to look at her husband, his face contorted in love, worry, and fear. Behind him was not only the midwife who was looking on her with a critical eye, but it seemed everyone of at least remote importance in the Norse Pantheon—not that she would know who those gods were. Loki was still rather closed lipped about anything having to do with his native land. All she knew was that either they had to be in the room or had insisted upon it.

When Loki had asked for her to have a natural birth at home she hadn't complained, and had only protested slightly to the rather large audience around her. But now, even with everything that was going on, she wondered if that was really what he wanted or what the others in the room had insisted upon. From the look on his face she was quite certain it had to be the latter.

Another contraction griped her body and she grimaced, desperately trying to hold in the shout of pain that wanted to escape her lips. Silently she cursed Loki. It was entirely his fault.

It was entirely his fault and he wasn't even happy about it. She had tried breaching the subject of baby boy names several times, but each time he would sink into depression. She had been forced into getting help from Koutarou-kun in picking the twins' names. She didn't have any favorite boy's names, and had always assumed that that wouldn't have been a problem. Surely the father would have had favorites—or at least have helped her in deciding.

Another contraction hit her and it was time to push.

Loki squeezed Mayura's hand again, hoping to give her the courage that right now he desperately wished he had. For standing directly behind him was his blood brother and once truest friend Odin, whose gaze Loki could feel burning into his back.

The news that he was going to be a father again had spread fast, and the news that they were twin boys had spread even faster. It certainly didn't take Odin long to come up with the same fearful conclusion that Loki had the moment he had learned his wife was carrying twins. Even if Odin didn't fully believe that the prophesied Sigyn had been merely a metaphoric description for Loki's truest lover, it was obvious he wasn't taking any chances and had commanded that all the gods involved in Loki's binding be present at the twins' birth.

Loki was torn between dread, awe, and shear bubbling excitement as he saw the first twin's head. It was the first time he had seen one of his children's births—when he wasn't the one in labor that is—but even then he hadn't seen much, being at the wrong end of the achievement.

Gently he wiped his wife's sweat beaded forehead and pulled a lock of her long bubble gum pink hair behind her ear. Mayura sighed as her body took a short reprieve between the baby's head and shoulders. He bent down and kissed her sweetly. "I love you."

Mayura smiled weakly before immediately cringing in pain again, this time not bothering to hold back her screams. "You're never going to touch me again!" she shrieked as she was pushing the baby's shoulders out. "I swear I'll cut it off!" Behind him Loki heard the gods snickering, but he paid no heed to them and held Mayura's left hand with both of his.

Faster than he had thought possible according to his memories, the first twin was born and the midwife was holding up the child in clean blankets proclaiming that Loki had a new healthy son. Quickly the child was passed to the tired but waiting new mother who was smiling radiantly. "Hi, I'm your mama, and that's your papa." Loki couldn't help but smile at the scene before him. He was too happy to acknowledge the horrible fate awaiting his newborn son. "And your name is Vali."

Loki's eyes grew wide and he fell to the floor, his legs unable to support his weight. A lone tear slid down his cheek and splashed onto the floor. His darkest fears were coming true.

Mayura's heart clenched when she saw Loki's reaction. She had thought at least in the brief second that she saw him smiling that he was happy. Truly happy like he had been when they had first found out that she was pregnant. Back before they knew she was having twins—boys. Her eyes stayed transfixed on Loki's crumpled form.

Vali wiggled in his mother's arms, instinctively knowing that he was being neglected and determined to be the main source of interest.

Mayura's attention turned back to the child nestled in her arms. Loki had gone off into one of his moods again and there was nothing she could do about it. Besides, he wasn't the most important person in her life at that moment—Vali was. She held her newborn son closer to herself and kissed him softly. "I love you Vali." _Even if your father doesn't_, she added silently to herself.

She looked up from her son as a new contraction hit her. As much as she wanted to hold Vali, she knew that his younger brother was impatient to join them.

Looking to her left she noticed that Loki wasn't on the floor anymore, most likely thanks to Narugami-kun who was always able to get Loki out of his odd moods lately. It used to be me, she thought, until I became the cause. With a slight sigh she quickly decided that although out of his most current 'mood' Loki wasn't composed enough to hold their baby. "Naru..."

Suddenly Mayura felt the midwife pick Vali up. "Give him to..." But the midwife didn't seem to pay attention to what she was saying and handed the baby to the hawkish one eyed man. Mayura didn't know anything about the elderly looking gentleman besides that he seemed to be the leader of the strangers in the room and had been addressed as Odin. She hadn't liked this Odin the moment he had stepped in the room, and liked him less by the second as she watched him hold her son. There was a predatory gleam in his eyes that had her wanting to snatch Vali out of his arms and hold him safe in her own.

Odin looked down at the child he was holding—the first of Loki's twin sons. Although still too young to be certain, the child was a near replica of his father, his hair having only a slightly more pinkish tone. The boy's eyes were still the bright baby blue every child was born with. _Too bad we'll never know which color they inherited_, thought Odin in a cold detached manner.

The moment he had learned that Loki had stayed on Midgard for a girl, he had known that she was Sigyn. Loki, as he knew from eons of experience, wasn't the sort to be overly concerned with the feelings of others—if he ever noticed them. He certainly hadn't noticed Freya's or Skuld's infatuation. For Loki to have given up returning to Asgard the girl Mayura had to be Sigyn. If that hadn't been enough proof, the news that she was pregnant with twin boys was.

But he hadn't expected Sigyn to name her first born Vali so easily. He had expected Loki and Sigyn to have refused to name them or insist on giving them Japanese names in a plot to avoid their wyrd. Of course that was why he had made it quite clear, to both Loki and the Norns that the three sisters had to be there. _It's impossible to avoid your wyrd little Vali, but first your brother._

Odin watched the scene playing out before him with a hidden smile. Loki was a complete wreck and Sigyn was once again screaming at his blood brother—mostly threatening his manhood to multiple forms of mutilation and detachment. Soon Narfi would be born and Loki bound.

The midwife caught the second twin easily and cleaned the child up. Wrapping it in soft blankets she raised the baby for all to see. "It's a girl." Loki looked at the midwife in shock as Mayura's eyes grew bright and smiled wide. "Let me hold Nari."

Loki spun around. "Nari?" That was the other name his youngest son might have had. The Norns hadn't been too sure.

Mayura nodded. "I always wanted to name my first baby girl Nari, even if the kanji are rather difficult..." Loki looked at her stunned. "Japanese? What would you have named a second boy?"

Mayura looked at Loki put off. _Now he cares about baby names?_ "I couldn't choose any boy names, but Koutarou-kun suggested Narfi, so that's what his name would have been since you decided not to help."

The Norns began to move towards Nari at the silent command from Odin. They had just started their wyrd reading when as a group they suddenly pulled back, the three nearly hissing. "Kill her," commanded Urd, very afraid.

Loki ran in front of his wife and daughter to protect them. "Why!" he demanded. "This isn't the prophecy. Vali doesn't have a twin brother named Narfi. Her name is Nari!"

Mayura couldn't say anything, completely shocked. _Prophecy? What prophecy is he talking about? _

"That's not a girl!" shouted Skuld, "It's a he!"

At that the midwife looked annoyed. "I know the differences between baby boys and baby girls."

"And I tell you it's a boy. Kill it."

Mayura unwrapped the blankets from around Nari and lifted her youngest up. "A girl." The gods all turned to look at the Norns. The baby was definitely a girl.

Verdandi's face darkened in anger. "He... she... it changed its wyrd!"

The gods laughed. There was no way that they would believe something that ridiculous. "Let us leave," commanded Odin as he handed the eldest to his mother. There was nothing left for him to do here. The prophecy had obviously not been fulfilled.

Loki watched the gods leave in relief. The prophecy hadn't come true—his nightmares hadn't come true after all. Curiously he looked down at his re-clothed daughter. _I wonder... _"Skuld, Verdandi, Urd... I want a word with you three." The Norns stopped before the door and turned. Loki picked Nari up and held her lovingly in his arms. The Norns glared daggers at Loki's youngest and backed up almost out of the room. They didn't want to be anywhere near her. Loki looked straight at the three Norns. "Nari has the power to nullify wyrds. Doesn't she?"

"It is our antithesis."

"She," growled Loki.

Urd nodded and looked at her sisters. "We will not attempt to harm her, for Odin has permitted her to live. But that doesn't mean we'll ever like her. We'll stay out of her way; make sure she stays out of ours." With that they turned around and left without another word.

Mayura had watched everything that had happened without understanding a word. She knew that whatever prophecy Loki had mentioned however had to be important. And although she knew nothing beyond that, as the three girls she had met at the White Night Fortune Telling left the room, she somehow knew that everything was going to be alright—Loki's smile while holding their daughter told her so.


	2. Ever After

Ever After: The Epilogue

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Vali was sitting peacefully on a rock wall when he saw his younger sister turn the corner running towards him at full speed with her skirts about her knees so she wouldn't trip. Reaching the wall she sat down and transformed into her male version. That could only mean one thing or rather person was around—Freyr. "Hi Narfi," Vali said with a smile. He always enjoyed his brother's company. Narfi nodded, working on controlling his breathing.

"Na-chan! Na-chan, where are you?" Freyr stopped in front of the identical twin boys quite flustered. "Did you see my Na-chan?"

Vali pretended not to know what he was talking about. "Who?"

"Na-chan, your sister Nari."

Vali shook his head. "No, haven't seen her since lunch." He turned to his brother. "Have you seen her Narfi?"

"No Vali, I haven't." Narfi looked up at Freyr. "Sorry we can't help. She might be down by..." Narfi couldn't finish his sentence, Freyr having already taken off for some unknown location in search of 'his Na-chan'. He sighed. "When will Freyr get it that I don't like him?"

"When you get a jealous lover," Vali said with a smirk. Suddenly his face became somber. "Narfi?"

"Yes?" he replied, swinging his legs.

"Do you ever regret using your power and becoming a girl?"

"No... It was the only way to save everything. Mom, dad... you... myself..."

"But don't you wish you were still a boy?"

Narfi looked up at the sky and became motionless. "No... It's not like I'm a boy trapped in a female body if that's what you mean. I don't feel like a boy, and I definitely don't want to be one now." He blushed. "I do think boys are rather cute though."

"Now?" asked Vali, ignoring his brother's last comment.

Narfi sighed. "Even though I pretend, and it is rather fun at times, Narfi doesn't exist anymore. I might be your identical twin, but when I changed my wyrd the boy that was Narfi was transformed into Nari. Nothing can change that."

"The same way you changed mom's wyrd?"

Narfi shook his head negatively. "That was different. I didn't change her, I just made her a 'not mortal' instead of 'mortal'. A simple classification adjustment really."

Vali looked at his twin in awe. "So are you really as powerful as the Norns fear?"

"Of course not!" Narfi said with a laugh. "They give me way too much credit. I can only directly change a person's wyrd once and even then only one parameter."

"But you completely stopped Ragnarok!"

"Yes, but only because everything rested on the fact that Sigyn would give birth to twin boys. I couldn't change the fact that we were twins, but I could change the fact that we were both boys."

"Oh..." Vali looked out at the field in front of him in thought. "Narfi?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're Nari."

Nari smiled, turning back into her true form. "Me too."


End file.
